enable him to recover amends for an injury; since 1060-1066 no person could sue in the King's Court without a special permission-a third wished to ask for leave to quarter himself and his hounds and his horses on one of the king's manors-and, in such cases, we cannot doubt but that Robert, the Norman Monk of Jumièges, or Giso the Fleming, or Ernaldus the Frenchman, would have many means of serving their own party and disappointing their adversaries;-and many an honest Englishman was turned away, with a hard word and a heavy heart, by these Norman courtiers. The Chaplains or Clerks of the Chancery, were particularly obnoxious: many of them obtained the best pieces of preferment in the king's gift. The Bishoprics were filled by Prelates who might be good stout soldiers or clever lawyers, but who were therefore eminently disqualified for the stations in the church, which they had obtained merely by favour or importunity.

of Romance' language

The Normans had, by this time, adopted the Introduction use of the French language, or, as it was then in England. called, Romance.' Edward had acquired a partiality for this dialect, which had become familiar to him during his stay in Normandy, and by his example it was becoming fashionable amongst the higher classes, at least amongst the favourites of Edward; and we cannot doubt but that this circumstance tended to raise up a further cause of discontent. A nation which loses its own speech, is half conquered.

1060-1066

1051

William's visit to England.

? 20. [Meanwhile, as we have seen,] William had fully established himself in the Duchy, after encountering many difficulties. He now arrived from beyond the sea with a large and splendid train of Frenchmen, on a visit to his good cousin, Edward, King of England: cousins they certainly were; for Edward's mother, Emma, was own sister to Robert, the father of William; and even if the kindred had been more remote, it would still have afforded a ground for attention and civility. Prosperity acts like a telescope, and often enables folks to bring distant relations much nearer than they would be without its aid. And we shall not be guilty of any great breach of charity if we suppose that William, young, ambitious, and enterprising, did not undertake this journey purely out of natural love and affection towards his old aunt and kinsman. Did he begin to form any plans for the invasion of England? Did he contemplate the possibility of wearing his kinsman's crown? In our modern days it is not at all an unfrequent thing for a man to sit down and write his own memoirs; in which, with great ingenuity and accuracy, he tells you everything concerning his actions and intentions, or at least everything which he wishes you to believe. In the eleventh century, however, these asides were not so common. William the Conqueror neither wrote his autobiography, nor hinted to

any good and serviceable friend that he had no 1060-1066 objection to have his opinions reported for the amusement and instruction of the world ;-and his "correspondence" is not extant, therefore I cannot exactly tell you what he thought. However, I can tell you what he saw, and then you may judge for yourself as to the sentiments which possibly floated in the mind of the Norman warrior.

England

before the

King Edward was surrounded by Frenchmen State of and foreigners, who filled his court, and were Conquest. spread over England. Of the few castles and strongholds which were in the realm, some, the most important, those towards the Welsh marches, were garrisoned by French and Norman soldiers, under the command of leaders of their own nation. In the great towns and cities, no inconsiderable number of Frenchmen were to be found, who, having settled there, enjoyed what we should now call the freedom of the corporation, living in houses of their own, and paying scot and lot, or taxes, like the English burgesses. The country itself invited the attacks of an enemy; the great towns, with few exceptions, were either quite open, or fortified only by stoccades and banks, or, perhaps by a ruinous Roman wall; and the Englishmen themselves, though very brave, were much inferior to the continental nations in the art of war. As soldiers, they laboured under a still greater deficiency than any which can result from the

1060-1066 want of weapons or of armour. Stout, well-fed, and hale, the Anglo-Saxon, when sober, was fully a match for any adversary who might be brought from the banks of the Seine or the Loire. But the old English were shamefully addicted to debauchery, and the wine-cup unnerves the stoutest arm. The monkish chroniclers, as you will recollect, tell us that we learnt this vice from the Danes-a sorry excuse; and it is little to the credit of Englishmen, that drunkenness still continues to stain our national character.

Conquest.

Omens of the The empire was distracted by factions. The members of a very powerful family, whose conduct had excited the suspicions of the sovereign, had been deprived of their possessions, but certainly not according to equity, so that they and their adherents had a double cause of hostility-disaffection,-and the sense of the injury which they had sustained.

Edward was advancing in years, childless, and without hope of children. Upon his death, the royal line of Cerdic would be represented solely by Edward the "Outlaw," the only surviving son of Edmund Ironside, then a fugitive in a distant realm, far away in Hungary. Hardly did it seem probable that this Prince, so estranged from England, could possibly assert his right to the succession; and, therefore, as soon as Edward should be stretched on the bier, the vacant throne might be ascended by any

one, who, whether by force or favour, could 1060-1066 obtain the concurrence of any powerful partisans, or the sanction of the legislature.

Such then was the state of affairs, when William, Duke of Normandy, afterwards the Conqueror, repaired to England. We have no positive evidence concerning what was said or done; and I am not prepared to relate the conversations between King Edward and his cousin, as if I had listened behind the tapestry. But the matters narrated by chroniclers I can repeat, and from their testimony we do know, that William was honourably received. He conducted himself with so much address as to acquire the confidence and good-will of Edward, who, by the expulsion of Godwin and his family, had obtained a temporary respite from uneasiness and disquietude.

This calm did not last long-[Godwin and Harold appeared in arms, and to avoid a battle, the quarrel was laid before the Witenagemot.]

1052

the Godwins.

The Great Council not only agreed that Triumph of Godwin and his sons were innocent, but decreed the restoration of their earldoms; and such was the influence of the Earl of Wessex, that the Witan adopted all the views of his party. All the French were declared outlaws, because it was said that they had given bad advice to the king, and brought unrighteous judgments into the land; a very few only, whose ignoble names have been preserved Robert, the Deacon,

VOL. 111.

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